Dave Donaldson, APRN – Juneau
The Division of Elections is setting up what it needs to count the write-in ballots that were cast in Tuesday’s General Election.
Elections Director Gail Fenumiai says all the ballots will be counted in Juneau beginning Wednesday of next week and will take about three or four days.
Working in pairs, Fenumiai says the people actually counting the ballots are all experienced members of the Division’s hand-count verification team. She says they have all been workers at polling places in the past and have been members of various election boards. And she says they have proven that they take their jobs very seriously.
Friday, Fenumiai says there are more than 43,000 ballots that have not been counted – including absentees, early votes and questioned ballots. If those also include write-ins they will be dealt with as they arise. The next run of absentee ballots will be done Tuesday, the ninth. Still another count is expected on Nov. 12 to deal with some of the questioned ballots. The final count of absentee ballots will be done on Nov. 17.
The entire counting schedule faces a Nov. 29 certification date.
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